Hotel Shootings in Mumbai, India (MERGED)

This is a discussion on Hotel Shootings in Mumbai, India (MERGED) within the In the News: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly forums, part of the The Back Porch category; I also appreciate the distraction, while I'm making for the exit
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Hey...as long as it works......

what is theirs? no list of demands, random killing, targeted killing, and they are not suicidal. These guys have fought hard, quickly and very violently against any police/military ...to the last man. There is still one BG in the Taj and he is still fighting hard.
2 at the Oberoi.

I am not sure if an armed citizen would have done a lot of good here. From the news reports I saw, they used grenades and rifles from a distance (at least initially). Very little a handgun will you other then draw rifle fire.

There are two options in a case like this:
- take cover and sneak to an exit. Maybe use your handgun to shoot any guard the BGs may have posted at the exit.
- sit tight, and wait for them to come in close for hostages (which they did here in the end).

The first option would have a good chance of saving your live. The second option is more about saving the live of others.

if they purely wanted max. casualties, why release hostages. Or why even hold hostages?
maybe to keep out police longer to kill more, but they haven't been doing that? at least that we know of so far.
Some BGs involved elsewhere have gotten away.
Still BGs in a private residence of a Rabbi and a jewish organization HQ holding hostages.

I'm thinking instigation for war/rebelion/revolution/ect. somthing to that effect.

(I realize terrorist=political...but what i meant is what is their actual goal of this particular event)

I really am suprised it hasn't happened here yet. Granted lone freaks opening up in a mall occurs all too frequently, the organised terrorist attack of this type hasn't happened here yet. The bigger cities NY, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, DC with their public transit systems make for inviting targets to these terrorist groups.

There have been statements that they are trying to scare off foreigners - a vital economic lifeline especially in the financial district of one of the largest economies in the world.

So far they think its some new group called "Decca Mujahadeen," and suspect that their motive extends from the Kashmir dispute. Looks like maybe their motive is maximum publicity and thus, destabilizing India.

If that is their plan, however, I fear many more attacks are imminent...

This is a tragedy of worldwide proportions. It is not the exact same enemy we are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq but make no mistake, it is the same 'religion' and tactics used by a vicious and dangerous enemy.

After 9/11 most people thought it was inevitable that similar attacks would occur here at home. It is to the credit of President Bush and his strategy to have the result that no significant attacks have occured here. And those who whine about the Patriot Act should thank God we have the tools to help track down the enemy BEFORE we are attacked in similar fashion as the Madrid bombing or this recent coordinated attack in India.

I pray for the families and victims of the barbarous scum that will be a continued enemy for many decades to come.

On a couple of forums I am on, people have lost friends in the carnage. I don't doubt the ISI has a hand in this somewhere, but I think most of the terrorists are local. India has a large Muslim population and there are social tensions, including a riot that killed a couple of thousand Muslims. While they might have some legit grievances this act is going to be paid back in blood and lots of it. I would not want to be an Indian Muslim right now.

I would not be at all surprised to learn that these guys were supporters of the Taliban. If the report cited earlier in the thread is right about them being Pakistanis, this could easily be retalliation for our cross border strikes. They don't even really have to be Taliban sympathizers. They could just be patriots retaliating for our violation of sovereign Pakistani territory.

How would we react if Venezuela launched raids and missile strikes on El Paso, or Brownsville or San Diego in an effort to kill Mexicans that had fled across the border? Or if France attacked Detroit and Buffalo to get some Canadians?

With our heightened security post 9/11 it is much easier to strike at US interests and citizens in other countries than it is within the US. Very few countries have the intelligence assets or budget that we have here. We also have to look at the possibility (probability in my mind) that some foreign intelligence services have personel that are sympathetic to their cause. I am not saying that these services actively support these people, just that it only takes one guy to hold up or lose one memo to make something like this possible.

With so few players on the world stage that could (or would) realistically challenge US military might in a straight up fight, we had better get used to this type of asymmetrical warfare. We are going to be facing it for a long time.

I'm not sure, as they specifically asked for both US and UK passport holders. It seems more targeted against foreigners in general. Honestly, I believe it has to do with Kashmir and a bit more. The Indian government is already indirectly pointing the finger towards a covert operation supported by Pakistani intelligence. The weeks to come are going to be extremely tense.